Harvest on the BBC - EXCITING!
Chefs Richard Corrigan and Ravinder Bhogal along with Jimmy Doherty and our very own Dom Gomez get excited about this years festival at Jimmy’s.
Watch the video and interview on BBC Suffolk here :)
As we’ve been working furiously on getting a very tasty line up for both of our festivals this year, our very lovely Nathalie thought it was time for a quick treat. So she found this yummy recipe from Deliciousdays: Cocoa cut out cookies with apricot jam - YUM!
They look great right? We thought so too, especially Dom who by the looks of it had a little too many.
To check the full recipe to sure to visit deliciousdays.com
With the SXSW festival in Texas about to kick off tomorrow - the line up looks amazing! - we thought we’d hunt for a finger linkin’ BBQ spare ribs recipe.
Well if like us and can’t make it across the pond to the actual festival you might as well fool your tummy you’re there.
This recipe is taken from Gorden Ramsey’s channel 4 - F Word and serves 4. ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS
3 pts water
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 - ½ medium onions, peeled and thickly sliced
3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 dried chilli
2 (1- ¼ pounds each) racks of pork spareribs (each 7 to 9 inches long, 6 ribs per rack)
For the barbecue glaze:
2 tbsp dark molasses
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp hot mustard
1 tbsp cider vinegar
A good dash of hot sauce
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
How to make barbecue spare ribs
1.In a large saucepan add the water, tomato paste, onions, garlic, peppercorns, cloves and chilli. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly for 15 minutes.
2.Add the spare ribs making sure they are covered (if not add more water) and bring back up to a gentle simmer. Simmer for approx 45 minutes, adding more water if it reduces too much. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
3.Meanwhile place ½ pt of the liquid from the ribs in a small saucepan. Boil the liquid until reduced by half. Add the molasses, chopped onion mustard, vinegar, hot sauce, lemon and salt. Stir over the heat to combine thoroughly. Brush this mixture liberally over the blanched ribs before cooking them.
4.Meanwhile remove the woody ends from the larger asparagus and chop into inch long pieces. Steam the asparagus over a pan of boiling water until tender - roughly five minutes for the larger spears and three minutes for the baby ones. Once cooked, immediately plunge into ice cold water
5.Cook the ribs on a barbecue or grill for approx 1-2 minutes each side until done.
From now until our launch next week we will be releasing a string of videos from last years Harvest at Jimmy’s. Each video has a theme from ‘kid’s area’ to the ‘main stage’.
This one shows some of the tasty food on offer last year for example.
Yummy food is always top of the agenda at our Harvest festivals so you can expect more of the same this year!
For all the videos plus future fun interviews be sure to become a fan of our Harvest facbook fanpage here
If you haven’t seen the brightly coloured packets adorning Brown Bears, the friendly logo that means you’ve found Bear Nibbles, then you should really consider where your getting your tasty treats from.
In recent years Bear Nibbles has taken the UK by storm providing a deliciously healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to your conventional snacking. The brain-child of Hayley Gait-Golding a personal trainer who saw the struggle people faced to find a tasty treat that wasn’t unhealthy, Hayley was inspired by a Bear article that illustrated the determent to a Bears health when they wondered into the cities to forage.
With Bears on the mind Hayley set out to explore the wilderness and found that Bears tend to snack on all sorts of fruit and berries, something that us humans could take note from. Subsequently Hayley came up with what she calls ‘100% naked nature’ in a packet and Bear Nibbles were born.
The treats range from succulent dried fruits like mango and peach to yummy berries like strawberry, raspberry and blueberry. First starting off fairly small, you can now find Bear Nibbles in many big retailers as well as your local independent food shop. Bear Nibbles is one persons inspirational story in search of a healthier solution and we thought it was about time we got to meet the lady herself so here she is!
Hello Hayley
Hello Harvest
How did you come up with the idea for Bear Nibbles?
I was a personal trainer before I founded BEAR and noticed a massive gulf between modern living and healthy eating. All convenient snacks were full of nonsense. That made me growl and I thought people need a tasty healthy treat they can take on the go with them and feel really good about. I wanted the fig leaf BEAR wears to be a symbol of nakedness people can trust. Delicious natural ingredients freshly sourced and lovingly baked.
What has been the biggest obstacle you have faced so far with the new company?
We’re a true start up. We’re funding BEAR ourselves which started with my husband and myself selling our house and putting everything we had into the business. It has been a grrrittty challenge which is character building right? There are no big corporates behind BEAR. Just all the great people who love BEAR and buy our snacks. We’re proud to be getting there on our own two paws.
Why do you think there are so few healthy alternative snacks out there?
Healthy ingredients are a lot more expensive and harder work to source. Think of the cost fresh berries compared to a bag of sugar or cheap flour. We’re so passionate about health we’re not greedy with our margins to make healthy affordable to everyone. In the UK we eat on average 15 snacks a week, so if we can succeed in helping people swap a few rubbish snacks for the extra 5 a day or wholegrain portions you get in BEAR then that’s part of what we consider our payback.
What would you say was the best bit about you’re job? Are you kidding?
That’s so easy, it’s the fruit. I’m am literally obsessed with fruit. I have been all my life. My first and favourite toy was a ‘happy apple’ and its been a love story ever since. My fridge is the BEAR cave joke:
What’s your favourite Bear Nibbles snack?
That changes depending on the occasion. Granola is really treaty so I love that in the evenings if I’m watching tv. Cocoa cherry pie tastes really chocolatey but it’s just raw nibbed cocoa beans baked with crunchy wholegrains. Out and about I’m a sucker for a peach yoyo.
Have ever given your treats to a real bear?
We’re fond of our limbs so that’s a no. We have a bunny fan called twighlight that bites his owner for blueberry yoyos and we fed a bear- sized shire horse a strawberry yo yo last week.
Apart from yummy snacks you’re really conscious about the environment. Why is this so important to you?
Apart from just feeding us nature is our playground. When we’re not making our nibbles you’ll find us frolicking around in the great outdoors. We call it ‘Go BEAR’. We work together with the Forestry Commission our goal is to try and get more people down to their nearest woods. There are so many great events on for families, fun things like bat hunts or family forest foraging. You can find them all on the Go BEAR bit of our website.
So what is your aim for this year?
Our aim is to become the nations favourite healthy snack. That could take a while so we’re just working on that one BEAR hug at a time…..Are you ready Harvest?
Ha! A few Harvest themed questions now:
What’s your favourite childhood recipe?
Toffee apples at Halloween
What 3 tracks would best accompany your cooking?
Empire of the sun (walking on a dream) is my cook-along right now.
Who would you most like to throw a dinner party for?
a picnic in the woods is how we roll in the big cave…. Guests, The mad hatter, Uncle Albert from Mary Poppins and everyone else who wants to pop along. A tea party in the trees with much merriment and bear nibbles.
That sounds crazy fun. Anyway thanks Hayley for filling us in, any last words?
Grrr.
Interested in grreat outdoors? Hear Bear Nibbles grrrowls on Twitter or join the cave on Facebook.
You can also get more information on products, random nature facts and a big bear hug at the Bear Nibbles website here.
COOKIES!!!! Yum!
We return to a past recipe from The Wednesday Chef blog for a gulity work-break endulgance.
Seriously though these are so good! So much so everyone at Harvest HQ scoffed down the entire lot on record breaking time - crumbs everywhere!
Check out the recipe below but make sure you make it over to The Wednesday Chef for the full write up and other tasty dishes.
Benne Wafers
Makes about 4 dozen
Note: Some people reported having issues with the texture of their cookies; please remember that the butter you use must not be warm or room temperature, but cool to the touch and still quite firm before you begin to cream it with the sugar. Here’s an article on butter in baking for your reading pleasure.)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool but not cold
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and well-combined. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour, salt, vanilla extract and sesame seeds. Mix until all the ingredients are combined.
3. Drop small spoons of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten the wafers with a knife dipped in ice water.
4. Bake for 6 minutes. The cookies should be a golden brown with deeper golden edges. Pull the parchment paper off the sheet pan onto a cooling rack. After about 5 to 8 minutes, gently pull the cooled cookies off the parchment. Reuse the parchment for the next batch.
5. Cool completely and store in a tin for up to 2 weeks.
Beauty in simplicity. Here’s a wonderful track from Jamie Woon who we started the day with.
Hmmmm, hearty bread!
Salad Days have recently posted two brilliant hearty bread recipes, which also includes a great Soda bread from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
We’re head many a fearful expressions when we recommend baking. It’s different to cooking right?
Well yes, but in general bread is a pretty simple food to bake. Then again if you want to go further and have a tastetastic loaf with all the right crust it al starts with a tried and tested recipe.
If you dig a good slice, whether with a wholesome stew or a big dollop of jam (Dom is very messy with this part), then we are sure you’ll enjoy this recipe.
Let us know what you think!
Salad Days - Wholemeal and granary boule.
Ingredients: 250g granary flour, 125g wholemeal flour, 125g strong white or spelt flour, 350ml warm water, 10g dried yeast, 10g salt.
Whizz all the dry ingredients together and gradually add the warm water until the dough has formed a solid lump that comes away from the blade and the edges of the bowl. Cover and leave to rise for an hour. Pulse the dough a few times to knock it down then turn out onto a floured board. Bring the sides of the dough to the middle, turning as you go to form a round loaf. Sprinkle with some seeds (I chose fennel) and some flakes of sea salt and bake on a tray in a hot oven for 35 minutes.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – Soda Bread
Ingredients
500g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
Approx. 400ml buttermilk or live yoghurt
A little milk, if necessary
bread
1. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl and stir in the salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, stirring as you go. If necessary, add a tablespoon or two of milk to bring the mixture together; it should form a soft dough, just this side of sticky.
2. Tip it out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly for about a minute, just long enough to pull it together into a loose ball but no longer – you need to get it into the oven while the bicarb is still doing its stuff. You’re not looking for the kind of smooth, elastic dough you’d get with a yeast-based bread.
3. Put the round of dough on a lightly floured baking sheet and dust generously with flour. Mark a deep cross in it with a sharp, serrated knife, cutting about two-thirds of the way through the loaf. Put it in an oven preheated to 200°C/gas mark 6 and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
4. Cool on a wire rack if you like a crunchy crust, or wrap in a clean tea towel if you prefer a soft crust. Soda bread is best eaten while still warm, spread with salty butter and/or a dollop of your favourite jam. But if you have some left over the next day, it makes great toast.
Variation:
For six-seed soda bread, mix together 2 tablespoons each of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy and linseeds, plus 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds; set aside. Follow the main recipe but use half white flour and half wholemeal flour. Add all but 1 tablespoon of the seeds to the dry ingredients before proceeding as above. After cutting a cross in the top of the loaf, brush it with a little buttermilk or ordinary milk and sprinkle with the remaining seeds. Bake at 200°C/gas mark 6 for 40–45 minutes.
In saluting their success at this years Brits we recommend this beautiful acoustic version of ‘Cave’ by Mumford & Sons at Bookshop sessions.
We have been starting every morning here at Harvest HQ with this new track from Noah and the Whale. Lovely!Noah and the Whale - ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’
